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Published 16:23 IST, January 11th 2021

Lionel Messi has astonishing '1617' dribbles over the last decade in INSANE LaLiga stat

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has completed an astonishing 1617 dribbles over the last decade, almost 3 times more than the next best Iker Munian.

Reported by: Sreehari Menon
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Lionel Messi is one of the finest players to ever play the sport and the Barcelona captain was in fine form as the Blaugrana brushed aside Granada in the LaLiga on Saturday. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner scored twice, including a delightful free-kick to help his side register a 4-0 win away from home, with Antoine Griezmann also scoring a brace. The win moved Ronald Koeman's side to third in the LaLiga standings, just four points off Atletico Madrid, who have three games in hand. 

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Granada vs Barcelona: Lionel Messi's insane dribbles stat puts him way above the rest 

After Barcelona's thumping win over Granada, ESPN FC revealed that Lionel Messi had completed an astonishing 1,617 dribbles over the last decade in the LaLiga. To put into perspective, the next best on the list was Athletic Bilbao's Iker Munian who had completed 607 dribbles in the last decade. Messi's dribbles were almost thrice that number, highlighting the Barcelona captain's genius with the ball at his feet. 

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To further stress on the point, the three behind Messi in the list; Iker Munian (607), Isco (527) and Neymar (493), combine for a total of 1627 dribbles, just 10 more than what the Barcelona captain has amassed in the past decade. The list has Sevilla star Ever Banega (465) at the fifth spot, with the likes of Fabián Orellana (452), Joaquin(450), Marcelo (430) and Andres Iniesta (426) being the nine top dribbles in LaLiga. The list surprisingly didn't bear the name of Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a whopping 450 goals during his time in the Spanish capital. 

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With his brace in the Granada vs Barcelona clash, Lionel Messi became the only player to score 10+ goals in 15 consecutive seasons of LaLiga. His second was delightful low free-kick, taking his club free-kick tally to 48, one more than arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo has managed so far in his career. The 33-year-old is also now back on top of the Pichichi charts and in the running to land the trophy for a record eighth time. The six-time Ballon d'Or winner had a slow start to the season, but has roared back to his best, as Barcelona continue to keep plugging away as they hope to sustain their momentum and be in the running for the LaLiga title. 

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(Image Courtesy: Barcelona Instagram)

16:23 IST, January 11th 2021